Spray nozzle with pressure operated clean out



Oct. 21, 1952 w, J RQELL ET AL 2,614,885

SPRAY NOZZLE WITH PRESSURE OPERATED CLEAN OUT Filed March 19, 1949.frzveniar l497/7amJ. Poe 7/70/7705 0. fierre'au out the various views,and in which Patented Oct. 21, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- SPRAYNOZZLE WITH PRESSURE OPERATED- CLEAN our William J. Roell and Thomas O.Berreau, Minneapolis Minn.

Application March 19, 1949, SerialNo. 82,392

4Cl aims. 1

This invention relates to spray nozzles With pressure operated cleanouts.

It is the general object of the invention to provide a novel andimproved spray nozzle including a needle Which can be moved in and outof the outlet orifice of thenozzle to clean the same and means foroperating said needle through a pressure differential that can becontrolled at a point remote from the nozzle.

\ Another object is to provide a spray nozzle ofcheap and inexpensiveconstruction including. a clean out needle for the spray orifice thatcan be operated. by. fluid pressure to clean the nozzle as the supply offluid to the nozzle is temporarily. out off.

A further object is to provide spraying equipment including spraynozzles Which can be cleanedrapidly when the spraying equipment isinuse. Without removing the nozzles. or portions thereof from the sprayingequipment.

Theobjects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear fromthe following descriptionmade in connection with. the accompanyingdrawing wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similarparts through- Fig. lisa view moreor less diagrammatically illustratingspraying equipment embodying. the invention; and a Fig. 2'is a verticalsection taken through the sprat bar substantially on the line 2-2" ofFig. 1 as indicated by. the arrows.

There is shown a tank 3which. will contain the. liquid to be sprayed:andfifrom this tank a pipe 3 runs to the intake of a suitable pump 5.From the outlet of, the pump 5 a pipe 6 connects by a T fitting? to apipe 8 connectedto a control valve ii. The control valve 9 is in turnconnected to another pipe I forming a.

spray bariqConnected to the T fitting is a pipe l3 running to athree-Way fitting I4, and this-fitting I4 is in turn connected to areturn line; l running back to the tank13. .The return line l5 isprovided with aregulating valve 16 and a pressure gauge may; if desired,also be connected to this return line I5. The remaining connection ofthethree-way fitting |4 iscOnnected to a branch line |8,.the majorportion of whichis disposed in spaced parallel relationrelative to thespray bar Ill. Connected both. to the spray bar and to the branch linel8. are a number of spray nozzles, eachoi which is designated as anentirety by. the letter N.

Each spray nozzle Nincludes a body I!) havin ..a central: apertured.cross web 201 dividing the upper portion of the: body |9'. This fitting237 has a central inlet OpBlllIlgwZl forming a fluid inlet portand thefitting-23 is also pro-.

vided with inner shoulders 25 which project inwardly relative to thecylindrical chamber 2|.

The branch line It? is connected: by a nipple.

26utoeach'port 24m The body l9 also has an intake. port2l1whichleadsinto the spray sup-.

ply chamber and an L-shaped nipple 28 connects the main spray-bar ||l-tothe port 2'! of each spray nozzle.

Fitting within the lower part of the body 191 and received partially.within thespray supply chamber 22 is a spray orifice member. 2!} havinga small orifice 30 through which the fluid is adapted to be sprayed.Immediately above" the orifice 3D the member 29' is provided-with anupwardly diverging walled portion 3| and preferably the extreme upperedge of the mem-\ ber '29is beveledas shown. The orificemem-j ber 2s hasan external flange 32 which isheld in sealed abutment with the lower endof the: body I!) by a collar 33 having an internal thread. connected to;an externally threaded: portionnear the lower end of the body|9'.

Fitting within the pressure chamber 2| of the nozzle is a piston 34carryingia stem 35 Whichprojects downwardly through the opening in theweb 20 of the body. The stem 35 is of. truncated conical shape at: itslower end and it carries a needle 36 adapted for cooperative action withthe orifice 30 upon reciprocation of the stem 35 to project in and outof the orifice 3|]. In other words,. the need1e 3B-is aligned with theorifice 30 and on the extreme down movement of the piston 34 this needleis adapted to work into the orifice 30 and to punch out any dirt orforeign matter which The conical pormay tend to clog the orifice. tion3| of the orifice member 29 immediately above the orifice 30 tends toguide theneedle 36 into the orifice in case there is any tendency forthe needle to be out of alignment with the orifice. A light coiledpressure spring 31 surrounds the stem Bil and bears at one end againstthe lower side of the piston 34- and at its other end against the crossweb 20 of the body IS. The opening in the cross web 20 through which thestem 35 projects is made large enough so that there can be freecommunication between the two chambers 22 and 2! or, if desired, a smallchannel 38 may be out in the web at one side of the opening therethroughso as to assure such communication.

The valve 9 will preferably be a quick-acting valve and will be locatedat a position convenient to the operator of the spraying equipment.Thus, if the spraying equipment is mounted on a tractor and is beingemployed for agricultural spraying, the valve 9 will preferably belocated near the seat of the tractor so that the valve 9 can becontrolled by the tractor operator without getting off the seat.

In use, the pump 5 will draw the spray liquid from the tank 3 and forceit through the pipe 6,

T fitting 1, and pipe 8 and valve 9 which is normally open, into thespray bar 89 and the fluid will be forced through the nipples 28 intothe various spray supply chambers 22 of the different valves N. Theliquid will be ejected through the orifice of the orifice members 29 inthe usual fashion. Some of the fluid beingpumped by the pump 5 will beforced through the bypass line l3 and return line I5 back to the tank 3,and by regulating the valve l6 and by observing the pressure gauge I! itwill be possible to regulate the pressure of the fluid being supplied tothe various spray supply chambers 22 of the spray nozzles. As the pipeI8 which communicates through the three-way fitting l4 with the returnline 13 communicates through the various nipples 26 with the pressurechambers 2| of the various spray nozzles above the pistons 34, thepressure above the pistons will be equalized by the pressure below thepistons and the springs 37 accordingly will hold the pistons in raisedcondition. In this connection, it has been before noted that the spraysupply chambers 22 are in communication with the lower portions of thepressure chambers 2| below the pistons 34 and it will thus be readilyunderstood that the fiuid pressure above and below the pistons 34 willbe balanced while the valve 9 is open. Let us assume that as is oftenthe case some of the solid matter in the fluid being sprayed temporarilyclogs one or more of the orifices 30 in the various nozzles N. It is avery simple matter to unclog these orifices by merely operating thevalve 9 to close off the supply of fluid from the spray bar IE to thevarious spray supply chambers 22 of the different nozzles. As the valve9 is closed the fluid pressure within the spray supply chambers 22 and,accordingly, below the pistons 36 in the pressure chambers 2! is reducedrelative to the fluid pressure in the pressure chambers 2| above thepistons 34. Accordingly, the pistons 3% will be forced downwardlyagainst the tension of the springs 31, thereby causing the stems 35 andneedles 36 to move downwardly to carry the needles 36 into the orifices39 to punch out any accumulated dirt that may be in these orifices. Theaction takes place very fast and it is possible to temporarily close thevalve 9 and immediately open it causing the unclogging of the variousnozzles N almost instantaneously without skipping.

any substantial part of the area over which the sprayer travels. If thespraying equipment is mounted as on a tractor and the valve 9 is locatedadjacent the drivers seat, the unclogging of the nozzles can be veryeasily accomplished without the driver stopping the tractor and withoutnecessitatin the drivers leaving his seat.

Of course, as the valve 9 after being closed is again opened, thepressure below and above the pistons 34 equalizes and the springs 31thus force the pistons upwardly to return the needles 36 to theiroriginal position.

It will be seen that a simple but highly eflective nozzle constructionhas been provided which will permit the cleaning of the outlet orificeof the nozzle through a differential in pressure that may be created inthe different portions of the nozzle. It will also be seen that a novelspray bar construction has been provided which will permit readycleaning of the nozzle without detachment of parts of the nozzle.

While in the illustrated nozzle a piston is provided which will beoperated by the differential in pressure, it will, of course, beunderstood that other pressure operated mechanism may be employed forreciprocating the clean out needle whenever desired.

It will also be understood that various other changes may be made in theform, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts withoutdeparture from the scope of the present invention which, generallystated, consists in the matter shown, and described, and set forth inthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A spray nozzle comprising a body having an apertured cross webdividing the same into a pressure chamber and a spray supply chamber,both of said chambers having fluid admission ports, said spray supplychamber havin a spray outlet orifice, a reciprocating piston Workingwithin said pressure chamber between said ports, a needle equipped stemconnected to said piston and projecting through the aperture of saidweb, the needle of which stem is aligned with said spray orifice andresilient means urging said piston to move the needle of said needleequipped stem out of said orifice.

2. A spray nozzle comprising a body having an apertured cross webdividing the same into a pressure chamber and a spray supply chamber, apiston working within said pressure chamber, a stem connected to saidpiston projecting through the aperture of said cross web and runninginto said spray supply chamber, a needle carried by said stem, saidspray supply chamber having a spray orifice aligned with said needle, aspring reacting between said piston and said cross web and urging saidneedle out of said orifice, said pressure chamber having a fluid supplyinlet port at the opposite side of said piston from said cross web andsaid spray supply chamber having a fluid inlet port.

3.A spray bar comprising a fluid supply line, a branch line runningtherefrom, a spray nozzle having in communication first and secondchambers, said nozzle having a spray orifice in said first chamber andboth of said chambers having fluid inlets, said fluid supply line beingconnected to the fluid inlet in said first chamber and said branch linebeing connected to the fluid inlet in said second chamber, a valve insaid supply line for closing off the supply of fluid to said firstchamber while permitting the supply of fluid through said branch line tosaid second chamber, pressure actuated means located in said secondchamber, a needle operated by said pressure actuated means and moveableinto and out of said orifice and resilient means acting to urge saidneedle out of said orifice whereby when said valve is open and thepressure is equalized in said two chambers said resilient means willhold said needle out of said orifice and when said valve is closed andthe pressure in said second chamber exceeds the combined pressure ofsaid resilient means and the pressure in said first chamber said needlewill be urged against the tension of the said resilient means into saidorifice.

4. A spray nozzle comprising a body having a first chamber having aninlet and a second chamber having an inlet and communicating with saidfirst chamber, a spray outlet orifice in said first chamber, a clean outneedle mounted for reciprocation in said body for projection into andout of said outlet orifice, a piston working in said body between saidinlets in said two chambers and connected to said needle and adapted toactuate said needle to move the same into said orifice when the pressurein said second chamber exceeds substantially the pressure in said firstchamber, and resilient means acting in conjunction with said piston formoving said needle out of said orifice as the pressure in said firstchamber equals or exceeds the pressure in said second chamber.

WILLIAM J. ROELL. THOMAS O. BERREAU.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,253,794 Deem Jan. 15, 1918FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 654,979 France Apr. 12, 11929

